man of the committee on internal improvements, and a
member of the committees on agriculture, accounts and
expenditures, counties and county boundaries, library, and
miscellaneous subjects.

SENATOR WILLIAM D. SCHAAL.

HE
fifth senatorial district is represented in the twenty-fifth
session of the legislature by Hon. William D. Schaal, of
Springfield, Nebraska. He was born in Missouri in 1860 and
raised upon a farm. In 1865 became with his father's family
to Sarpy county, Nebraska, where he has since resided with
the exception of five years spent in Hitchcock county. He
taught school six years, and has devoted the rest of his
time to agricultural pursuits. He has a wife and four
children, to whom he is devotedly attached. Mr. Schaal early
espoused the principles of the populist party, but has never
been disposed to press his personal claims for recognition
in political councils. Preferring the quiet of home life and
provident industry to the allurements of office-chasing, he
has from choice remained with the rank and file. In 1895 he
yielded to the demand of his friends and neighbors, and ran
for county clerk, accepting defeat without complaint. In
1896 the senatorial conven-

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tion of his district, which includes the counties of
Sarpy and Saunders, tendered him the nomination, and he was
elected by a flattering majority. Senator Schaal is chairman
of the committee on highways, bridges, and ferries, and a
member of the committees on accounts and expenditures,
school lands and funds, labor, banks and currency, and
asylums.

SENATOR EDSON R. SPENCER.

NE
of Lancaster county's well-known representatives is the Hon.
Edson R. Spencer, of Firth. He was born in New York in 1861,
his parents soon after emigrating to Jo Daviess county,
Illinois, where Edson was educated. At the age of seventeen
he became a public school teacher, and in the spring of 1879
drifted with the tide of emigration to Nebraska, locating in
Richardson county. From here he removed to the town of
Firth, where he now lives. He has long been engaged in the
banking business, and has other important business
connections. This is his third term in the legislature, he
having been twice honored with election to the lower house.
He is a republican of intense convictions, but makes few
speeches in the senate, contenting himself with practical
work in committee and on roll

STATE
SENATORS.

61

call when the votes are taken. He has an exceedingly
strong hold on the rank and file of his party in Lancaster
county and is generally accorded whatever he asks. Senator
Spencer is a member of the following committees: Highways,
bridges, and ferries, internal improvements, education, and
enrolled and engrossed bills.

SENATOR CALVIN F. STEELE.

HE
twenty-third senatorial district of Nebraska has an able and
conscientious representative in the person of Senator Calvin
F. Steele. He was born in Illinois in 1843, and was educated
and reared in that state. In 1861, at the tender age of
eighteen, he enlisted in the Second Illinois Cavalry, and
served four years and five months in the great rebellion,
enduring tintold privations and rendering hard and faithful
service. At the close of the war he resumed his studies,
attending school less than two years. When the stream of
drifting population was at high tide toward the west in
1871, he came to Nebraska and located in the promising
little city of Fairbury. Embarking in business and giving
strict attention to the best methods, he finally built up an
extensive trade as a furniture dealer. The people of
Jefferson county have repeatedly shown him their

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confidence in the most tangible form. By their suffrages
he was twice elected sheriff, and subsequently served four
years as county treasurer. He has always been a republican,
but is a public-spirited citizen on the broadgauge plan.
Senator Steele is a conscientious and faithful member of the
following committees: Public lands and buildings, soldiers'
home, irrigation, privileges and elections, military
affairs.

SENATOR TRACY P. SYKES.

DAMS
county is represented in the senate by a veteran Union
soldier, Hon. Tracy P. Sykes, a farmer by occupation. He was
born at Strykersville, New York, May 29, 1843. At the age of
seven he removed with his parents to Henry county, Illinois,
and lived near the present city of Kewanee until the
breaking out of the war. He enlisted in the Twenty-fourth
Illinois Volunteer Infantry, which regiment was assigned to
General John A. Logan's division of the Seventeenth Army
Corps. He was with his regiment during the entire Vicksburg
campaign, that being the second regiment to enter the city
after its capitulation, In December, 1863, he was
transferred for disability to Company E, Fourth Regiment,
Veteran Reserve Corps, where he